Outsourcing Leadership

One startling observation that has really unsettled me since returning to Australia has been the prevailing culture in churches and spiritual communities. I’ve been thinking for a long time about how the church in Australia has outsourced the development of leaders to the academy, a very modern, colonial and European model.

The process goes something like this; an aspiring leader is sent to an institution to study theology, becoming well versed in the good and not so good theological frameworks. He (or sometimes she) also studies scripture, and hopefully forge’s character, gain’s ministry experience and develops a network of like-minded people. All great things in and of themselves, but I’m left wondering if it’s adequate?

I guess it’s based on several assumptions; one being that character will be forged through study. Another is that intellectual ability and having the right framework is the best foundation for leadership, the best platform we can think of to put leaders on. Only problem is that when we elevate leaders based on their academic ability we run the risk of having arrogant leaders at best, relationally deficient leaders at worst. One of the toughest journeys for me as a pastor was the development of people skills and increasing my relational intelligence. Unfortunately we never had a course at college on these vital topics.

There is also built into this system a presumption of maturity being directly related to academic ability. The person in charge is clearly the person who knows the most. Superiority and spiritual pride are all too common in church leaders; I’ve seen it as much in myself as I have in others I’ve known and served under. I was fortunate enough to have an incredibly humble senior pastor during my 5 years of church work, who taught more through living than I could ever learn anywhere else. However it is much easier to assess a persons theology than to examine the fruit of their life and desires of the heart.

Upon completion of ones studies, I see another big flaw; the absence of peers in spiritual life. Surely the deepest growth in our lives comes from our enduring relationships. Most pastors have very few friends in the communities they serve in because of the constraints and expectations of their role. Surely this is part of the reason why lonely, frustrated and tired pastors end up making what look like crazy decisions that end their careers and sabotage their work; they often gave up authentic relationships when they took their calling seriously, and with them the ability to make good decisions from wise counsel.

Now I know that there are many exceptions to the scenarios I’ve outlined; men and women doing great things, with humble hearts and authentic community. There are also many situations that are much worse than I’ve described. So I have a radical solution.

Stop outsourcing leadership development.

Develop them in-house.

End the obsession with intellectual activity and supplement study with application of mission, justice, service; more than just one day a week and one month a year.